


desperate and divine

by cosmic strings (electrick)



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, accidentally emailing all the global interns instead of the branch, inspired by a true story, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 00:33:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4120060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/electrick/pseuds/cosmic%20strings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Not gonna lie, I looked you up on Facebook after the first day,” James admits and his voice runs over Steve like milk and honey. It’s warm and rich and is this what love at first sight feels like? </p><p>--</p><p>in which steve rogers sends an email to all the global interns instead of the local ones, and thus begins the story of steve and bucky</p>
            </blockquote>





	desperate and divine

**Author's Note:**

> i shit you not, this happened to me at work today. i even used the same words and everything.

Steve Rogers had lucked out and ended up securing a last minute internship at a insurance company for the summer. He had never heard about it before so he assumed it was local but after orientation he realized it was a global company with offices spanning across most of the continents. It wasn't what he wanted to do but, hey, it was money and something to do in summer.

 

He was one of 20. Growing up, Steve was a quiet boy; he tended to keep his mouth shut until he absolutely couldn’t take it anymore. That avoided much drama in Steve’s life so he kept it that way. So, when he decides to write his first email to the intern group asking for a confirmation, it was his first foray into the world of corporate email and to the interns who had organized a group lunch earlier. He was a bit confused in finding out how to email groups using Outlook, but it was email and how hard could it really be?

 

He scrolls down the list of groups and there were so many groups for this company that he just began to grasp their global position. He was stationed at the DC office, being close to his school and all. He decides to click the ‘LP - all interns’ option. He remembers seeing a similar format in other emails sent to him, so he figures it must be right.

 

“Hi guys.

Is the intern lunch at the Panera Bread near Dupont Circle or the one on L St? I wasn’t sure about the location. 

Steve.”

 

He double checks it for spelling errors and clicks send.

 

Two minutes later, an email notification pops up on the bottom right corner of his screen. 

 

It’s from a name he doesn’t recognize and he prays to god he isn’t in trouble already. It’s only his second week in. 

 

 

“I don’t think this has to do with me does it? - being all the way up here in NY haha.”

 

Steve sees the automated signature at the bottom of the email - 

 

James B. Barnes

Intern

LP - NY

 

He smacks himself across his forehead and covers his eyes with his hands. He feels like drowning his head in the toilet seat, jesus how could he be so dumb? He swallows as he bites his lip and he’s staring at the screen intensely. Did he really send out an email to all LP interns?

 

He writes a hasty response - 

 

“Oh, I think I accidentally sent it to all the interns in LP. I’m so sorry, that’s my mistake.”

 

God, he can’t stare at the screen any longer. He gets up and walks to the bathroom with his phone hot and heavy in his pocket. Once he’s in, he calls Sam immediately because he’s got to tell someone about the mortifying mistake he just made and Sam would at least make him laugh about it, after giving him shit. 

 

Sam doesn’t pick up so Steve sends him a text. He splashes some water on his face and when he looks in the mirror, he sees a mess of pink staring back at him. _Great, now the whole world can tell_ , he thinks. 

 

When he returns to his cubicle, he sees that James has responded to his email -

 

“Haha, no it’s fine. I am LP, just not Washington DC. I’m up in NY. Just thought I’d check and make sure I wasn’t missing anything.”

 

What kind of person responds to an embarrassing email like that? Steve stares at the screen for a few minutes, his mind reeling in the humiliation from earlier. Steve groans and leans his head back against the chair. All the other interns surely must be laughing at him now. He’s starting to rethink this stupid group lunch. None of them are even that cute. 

 

He doesn’t give the email a second glance and deletes it. He finishes the last hour of work by pretending that it didn’t happen and leaves a few minutes early so he doesn’t run into the other interns on his way out.

 

—

 

The next few days, Steve almost forgets about the incident until Sam texts him back and Steve relays the story to him. At least now Steve can look back and laugh about it. Steve was right, though, Sam is never gonna let him hear the end of this.

 

“All brains and smarts and this is what you ended up doing? Emailing everyone in the damn company about lunch?” Sam laughs, covering his abdomen with a hand. He’s ready to keel over which is somewhat worrying.

 

“Just the interns,” Steve groans as he covers his face. 

 

—

 

It’s been five business days since the incident and Steve has suppressed it so far back that he almost doesn’t recognize the email from James B. Barnes. He opens Outlook and sees the title (Re: Lunch Confirmation). God, what is this guy’s problem? Steve hasn’t sent another email so what could he possibly be emailing him about?

 

“How was the intern lunch? Did I miss anything? ;)” his email reads.

 

“Well he can’t be worse than the guys I do know,” Steve mutters to himself before replying to it.

 

“It was subpar. The Panera on the Dupont circle was a better choice by the taste of it.”

 

James’ responses are timely and always quick witted. It seems like neither of them have any actual work to do since all they do is email each other for the next few days. Which slowly turn into weeks. 

 

Steve realizes that James’ emails have become a regular part of his work day and  it’s what Steve looks forward to almost every day. (It’s a nice break from his routine job because let’s face it, who really enjoys insurance?)

 

Steve mentions the upcoming conference his boss had invited him to in NYC and James says that they should meet up. Steve hesitates before replying, his fingers frozen at the keyboard. Steve barely knows this guy but his gut tells him _yes! yes! yes!_

 

Admittedly, the first thing Sam did was look up a James Barnes on Facebook and there was no record of one in the New York area (not if James Barnes was a 40+ year old man with a husky).

 

He closes out of the email and takes the night to think about it. 

 

He goes back to Sam and tells him the updated situation. Sam urges him to go for it, to try something new. Steve tells him it’s not cereal, he can’t just buy a new box and Sam shrugs in response with his tell tale smile. 

 

LP does background checks for all their employees so it’s highly unlikely that James is a serial killer so he doesn’t really have anything to lose. Steve decides to be spontaneous so he hits send with his agreement at 8:05 AM with his personal cell number.

 

At 8:07, he receives a text from an unknown number - 

 

“This is James.”

 

Steve replies hastily - 

 

“good 2 know” with a winking emoji. Their chat is blue so James has an iphone as well. Good, he gets the emojis. Steve is relieved because he uses emojis extensively. Sam gives him shit for it, but then again, he’s not even surprised anymore.

 

He doesn’t even think twice about replying because talking to James is second nature. 

 

J: “When is your conference?”

 

S: “6/26 - 6/27”

 

J: “OK cool. I’ll be in the city. We should meet ;)”

 

S: “so you said…”

 

J: “hey, don’t sound too excited there”

 

—

 

The truth is Steve hasn’t stopped thinking about him since the first text. He wants to know what James is like outside of work and what his voice sounds like. He wants to put a face to this mystery man. More than anything, Steve hopes this isn’t a fluke because James has such a quick wit and a sharp edge that leaves Steve smiling. 

 

Steve sends a series of party emoji and puts his phone away before his manager spots him not working. Now, more than ever, he needs to go to this stupid conference so he’s got to prove his worth. 

 

—

 

It’s a wonder Steve doesn’t get caught in the next few weeks because all he does is text James about anything and everything. The weather, the other interns, the food from the cafeteria. James doesn’t seem to mind at all and he responds with an active interest that makes Steve feels elated and he sees stars if that’s even a thing. 

 

The calendar above Steve’s computer makes him seem like an insurance nerd to anyone who walks past his cubicle because he’s got the conference highlighted with the previous days marked off with big Xs. 

 

But little do they know.

 

James asks him to meet at the Panera Bread a couple blocks over from the conference. Steve is dressed in khakis and a blue button up shirt (James might have mentioned that his favorite color was blue in passing) and he’s so nervous. He stops himself on the corner and asks himself what would Sam say?

 

“Man, just wing it,” Steve says mockingly in a falsetto that is completely unlike Sam’s. He walks to the door and he sees everyone busy at their tables except for one guy sitting alone at a small table with a coffee. He’s wearing a green (green!) shirt with his employee lanyard. His hair is short and ruffly at the top of his head and Steve can see him running his hands through his hair whenever he’s stressed. He’s looking around until he spies Steve and his eyes light up like seeing fireworks on the 4th of July. They widen and that’s when it hits Steve. 

 

He’s gorgeous. A smile forms on his face and my god, he’s full on smiling like his soul is shining through with teeth and all. Any smile next to his pales in comparison so Steve exhales slowly as he walks over and sits. 

 

Steve had never planned on him being this attractive, or attractive in general. All of the other interns in his branch were sorely lacking in the beauty department. It’s not like insurance is a high breeding ground for beautiful people.

 

“Wow,” Steve breathes and he’s shocked that he just said that out loud. He grows pink and he bites his bottom lip. 

 

“Not gonna lie, I looked you up on Facebook after the first day,” James admits and his voice runs over Steve like milk and honey. It’s warm and rich and is this what love at first sight feels like?

 

“I couldn’t find you on Facebook,” Steve shoots him a look. His face distorts into a look of confusion. His brows are furrowed at the junction, and his eyes are so wide and clear Steve feels like he can see his soul through them.

 

“Well that’s weird, because I definitely have a Facebook. Let me add you right now,” he taps his phone and Steve’s phone chimes, probably with the request. He pulls it out and sees a request from a Bucky Barnes.

 

“Bucky?” Steve looks up at him with a raised eyebrow. A look of realization flashes across James’ face as he explains that he goes by Bucky.

 

Steve nods, deciding that he likes Bucky better. 

 

“To think, you went on a date with a guy whose name you didn’t even know,” he laughs and Steve straightens up a bit. 

 

“Oh, is that what this is?” he laughs with a smirk.

 

“Of course,” Bucky leans back into his chair, spreading his feet underneath the table.

 

“What a story it’ll make for the grandchildren,” Steve leans in across the table.

 

Bucky laughs loudly and throws his head back, his hair bouncing softly. The pair sitting near them both turn to look at Bucky with a look of annoyance but neither Bucky nor Steve care much for it.

 

“Slow down Steve. I don’t even put out on the first date,” he winks and Steve has to remind himself to breathe. 

 

“That’s a shame,” Steve smile crookedly as he slides his hair across.

 

Bucky turns a little bit, and he’s still smiling so Steve sees the hint of a dimple on his cheek. Steve decides that true love is real and he’s just fallen for Bucky Barnes. 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
